MSU’s press release from the scrimmage noted the trio of tailbacks that includes juniors Nick Hill, Jeremy Langford and redshirt freshman Nick Tompkins rushed 23 times, but absent was the yardage total, either as a group or individually.

Hill entered spring as No. 1 on the depth chart, and continues to get the majority of the repetitions with the first-team offense, he said. Langford occasionally slips in with the ones, but mostly rotates with Tompkins on the second-team.

Dantonio said Wednesday on a conference call that he’s looking for a bell-cow running back to carry MSU’s rushing attack similar to Bell in 2012. During the call he mentioned the coaching staff is looking at players at other positions to “slide in and out in practice and see how they handle things.”

“Obviously it’s a position of concern for us, but our guys are playing hard,” he said. “… We’ve got to find a guy that you can give the ball to 250 times. I don’t know that we have that yet. That’s a part of who we are, so we’re going to find it.”

In preparation of his spring audition as Bell’s successor, the diminutive Hill added roughly 10 pounds of muscle throughout the winter. Listed as 5-foot-8 and 193 pounds on the roster, Hill said he is aware people doubt his ability to carry the load as a full-time running back, but he points to Javon Ringer — a former All-American back under Dantonio — who was just an inch taller.

“I knew that was the time to be able to mess with (my weight), play with it and keep my speed,” Hill said. “Coming out here and also at the end of winter conditioning, I noticed I was still fast. I noticed I was still quick. So I felt that putting on the weight I’m at right now, I did not sacrifice any speed or quickness.”

Langford still is working to get comfortable from both a technique and scheme standpoint at the position after spending time at wide receiver and defensive back since arriving in East Lansing.

As for Tompkins, a speed back from Snellville, Ga., he said his biggest disadvantage right now is a lack of knowledge and experience in the Spartans’ offensive system, which can only come with more reps.

With three true freshmen ballcarriers joining the battle when they arrive this fall in Gerald Holmes, R.J. Shelton and Delton Williams, the backs currently on the roster are feeling the pressure to stand out. Dantonio has said multiple times since the end of last season that he’s comfortable starting a true freshman in the backfield.

“It has to drive you,” Tompkins said. “I feel like each one of us individuals, we’re just trying to make plays to the best of our abilities. It’s getting crunch time, those guys are coming in so we’ve got to show ourselves now.”

Former running backs Larry Caper, Edwin Baker and Bell all had success as true freshmen, proof of Dantonio’s willingness to go with youth at the position.

For the three backs still striving to lock down their spot as “the guy,” they have until the annual Green and White spring game on April 20 to make an impression on the coaching staff before the race gets thicker in fall camp.

“It goes without saying that’s been a dominant position for us the last number of years in terms of 1,000-yard rushers. In terms of guys who’ve become All-Big Ten. Guys who have been drafted,” Dantonio said.